A Museum for Young Gentlemen and Ladies | Page 3

accordingly: For the stress of voice is the same with regard to sentences as in words. The emphasis or force of voice is for the most part laid upon the accented syllable; but if there is a particular opposition between two words in a sentence, one whereof differs from the other in parts, the accent must be removed from its place: for instance, The sun shines upon the just and upon the unjust. Here the emphasis is laid upon the first syllable in unjust, because it is opposed to just in the same sentence, without which opposition it would lie in its proper place, that is, on the last syllable, as we must not imitate the unjust practices of others.
The general rule for knowing which is the emphatical word in a sentence, is, to consider the design of the whole; for particular directions cannot be easily given, excepting only where words evidently oppose one another in a sentence, and those are always emphatical. So frequently is the word that asks a question, as, who, what, when, &c. but not always. Nor must the emphasis be always laid upon the same words in the same sentence, but varied according to the principal meaning of the speaker. Thus, suppose I enquire, Did my father walk abroad yesterday? If I lay the emphasis on the word father, it is evident I want to know whether it was he, or somebody else. If I lay it upon walk, the person I speak to will know, that I want to be informed whether he went on foot or rode on horseback. If I put the emphasis upon yesterday, it denotes, that I am satisfied that my father went abroad, and on foot, though I want to be informed whether it was yesterday, or some time before.
RULES TO READ VERSE.
There are two ways of writing on a subject, namely, in prose and verse. Prose is the common way of writing, without being confined to a certain number of syllables, or having the trouble of disposing of the words in any particular form. Verse requires words to be ranged so, as the accents may naturally fall on particular syllables, and make a sort of harmony to the ear: This is termed metre or measure, to which rhyme is generally added, that is, to make two or more verses, near to each other, and with the same sound; but this practice is not absolutely necessary; for that which has no rhyme is called blank verse.
In metre the words must be so disposed, as that the accent may fall on every second, fourth, and sixth syllable, and also on the eighth, tenth, and twelfth, if the lines run to that length. The following verse of ten syllables may serve for an example:
The m��narch sp��ke, and str��it a m��rmur r��se.
But English poetry allows of frequent variations from this rule, especially in the first and second syllables in the line, as in the verse which rhymes with the former, where the accent is laid upon the first syllable.
L��ud as the s��rges, wh��n the t��mpest bl��ws.
But there are two sorts of metre, which vary from this rule; one of which is when the verse contains but seven syllables, and the accent lies upon the first, third, fifth, and seventh, as below:
C��uld we, wh��ch we n��ver c��n, Str��tch our l��ves bey��nd their sp��n; Be��uty l��ke a sh��dow fl��es, ��nd our y��uth bef��re us d��es.
The other sort has a hasty sound, and requires an accent upon every third syllable; as,
'Tis the v��ice of the sl��ggard, I he��r him compl��in, You have w��k'd me too so��n, I must sl��mber ag��in.
You must always observe to pronounce a verse as you do prose, giving each word and syllable its natural accent, with these two restrictions: First, If there is no point at the end of the line, make a short pause before you begin the next. Secondly, If any word in a line has two sounds, give it that which agrees best with the rhyme and metre; for example the word glittering must sometimes be pronounced as of three syllables, and sometimes glitt'ring, as of two.
The USE of CAPITALS, and the different LETTERS used in PRINTING.
The names of the letters made use of in printed books are distinguished thus: The round, full, and upright, are called Roman; the long, leaning, narrow letters are called Italic; and the ancient black character is called English. You have a specimen as follows, viz.
[Illustration: the word Angel in "Roman", Italic, and Fraktur (which they call "Old English")]
The Old English is seldom used but in acts of parliament, proclamations, &c. The Roman is chiefly in vogue for books and pamphlets, intermixed with Italic, to distinguish proper names, chapters, arguments, words in any foreign language, texts of scripture, citations from authors, speeches or